For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Boston Celtics sport one of the most formidable benches in the association.
That’s because there’s a slew of new faces joining the ranks to rep the green in Ime Udoka’s first season as head coach and Brad Stevens’ debut as President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics.
In what was one of the busiest summers of any front office executive across the NBA, Stevens reshaped a roster that was short on depth and production the past two seasons in the second unit.
He also brought several players capable of breaking into the starting lineup if their Boston debuts/returns pan out as hoped.
With all of these new names on the depth chart, Hardwood Houdini figured we’d look at all of the newcomers and rank their potential impact going forward.
Some parameters for these rankings:
- Only players with guaranteed contracts will be considered for this exercise. We don’t know if Luke Kornet, Juwan Morgan, Theo Pinson, or Brandon Goodwin will make the cut when training camp is all set and done.
- Sam Hauser, current owner of a two-way contract, will be considered for this exercise.
- Al Horford and Enes Kanter aren’t newcomers in the sense that they’ve rocked the green before, but for the purpose of this piece, they are.
So without further ado, let’s jump into it:
#7. Boston Celtics PF/C Bruno Fernando
Bruno Fernando showed out in Summer League, dominating on the glass and under the basket with the ball in his hands.
That said, his Las Vegas showing probably bought more time on the roster than it did buying minutes in Ime Udoka’s rotation. There are simply too many guys ahead of him on the depth chart to project any significant impact for Fernando in 2021-22.